Nixon's Florida White House
25°41′30″N 80°10′28″W / 25.691761°N 80.174460°W / 25.691761; -80.174460The Florida White House (or Winter White House) was an informal name for a compound in Key Biscayne, Florida, used by U.S. President Richard Nixon.
History
Nixon purchased the first of his three waterfront homes, 500 Bay Lane, during 1969 from his former Senate colleague George Smathers of Florida. Nixon visited it at least 50 times while in office as President from 1969 to 1974.
Nixon's compound was close to the home of Charles "Bebe" Rebozo who resided at 490 Bay Lane and of industrialist Robert Abplanalp (inventor of the modern aerosol spray can valve). Bebe Rebozo, president/owner of the Key Biscayne Bank, was indicted for money-laundering a $100,000 donation from Howard Hughes to the Nixon election campaign.
According to an exposé by Don Fulsom, Nixon and Rebozo got bargain real estate prices from Donald Berg, a Mafia-associated Rebozo business partner. The Secret Service eventually advised Nixon to stop associating with Berg. The lender for one of Nixon's properties was Arthur Desser, who consorted with both Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa and mobster Meyer Lansky. Nixon and Rebozo were friends of James V. Crosby, the chairman of a company repeatedly associated with major mobsters, and Rebozo's Key Biscayne Bank was a suspected pipeline for Mafia money from Crosby's casino in The Bahamas. By the 1960s, FBI agents monitoring the Mafia had identified Rebozo as a "non-member associate of organized crime figures".
President John F. Kennedy and Nixon met for the first time after the 1960 presidential election in an oceanfront villa at the old Key Biscayne Hotel. As the Watergate scandal developed, Nixon spent more time in seclusion there.
The United States Department of Defense spent $400,000 constructing a helicopter landing pad in Biscayne Bay adjacent to the Nixon compound. When Nixon sold his property, including the helicopter pad, there were public accusations that he enriched himself at taxpayer expense.
Scarface, the 1983 gangster movie starring Al Pacino, was filmed there.[1]
The original building was razed during July 2004 by owner Edgardo Defortuna, president of Fortune International Realty.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Tim Reid (July 28, 2009). "$20m holiday home at Blue Heron Farm suits Barack Obama to a tee". Times Online. London. Archived from the original on 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ "Nixon's Presidential Retreat in Fla. Razed". AP Online. July 22, 2004. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
External links
- Fulsom, Don (February 5, 2006). The Mob's President: Richard Nixon's Secret Ties to the Mafia. Crime Magazine.
- Associated Press (July 23, 2004). Nixon's Winter White House Razed.
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- 37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
- 36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961)
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politics
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culture
- "Nixon goes to China"
- Millhouse (1971 film)
- An Evening with Richard Nixon (1972 play)
- Richard (1972 film)
- Another Nice Mess (1972 film)
- Four More Years (1972 film)
- Impeach the President (1973 song)
- The Werewolf of Washington (1973 film)
- White House Madness (1975 film)
- All the President's Men (1976 film)
- The Public Burning (1977 novel)
- Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977 miniseries)
- Secret Honor (1984 film)
- Nixon in China (1987 opera)
- The Final Days (1989 film)
- Nixon (1995 film)
- Elvis Meets Nixon (1997 film)
- Futurama (1999 TV series)
- Dick (1999 film)
- Nixon's China Game (2000 film)
- Dark Side of the Moon (2002 film)
- The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004 film)
- Frost–Nixon interviews (2006 play, 2008 film)
- Black Dynamite (2009 film)
- "The Impossible Astronaut" (2011 TV episode)
- Our Nixon (2013 film)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 film)
- Crooked (2015 novel)
- Elvis & Nixon (2016 film)
- The Post (2017 film)
- Watergate (2019 board game)
- U.S. postage stamp
- Nixon parody account
- Jack Brennan (aide de camp)
- Murray Chotiner (early campaign manager)
- Manolo Sanchez (valet)
- Rose Mary Woods (secretary)
- Thelma "Pat" Ryan Nixon (wife)
- Tricia Nixon Cox (daughter)
- Julie Nixon Eisenhower (daughter)
- Christopher Nixon Cox (grandson)
- Jennie Eisenhower (granddaughter)
- Francis A. Nixon (father)
- Hannah Milhous Nixon (mother)
- Donald Nixon (brother)
- Edward Nixon (brother)